Quantum computing has advanced by light-years since D-Wave Systems made financial news headlines and I penned a first dive into the sector with “Investment Opportunities are Lurking Around the Y2Q Quantum Corner” published (X thread) in Oct. 2017. Combined with advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), this atomic level frontier is building scalable quantum systems for science that will manifest a societal-wide paradigm shift with Neven’s Law in-play and dwarf the effect transistors or microchips had in electronics. If you have not kept track of the technology or related equities in the stock market for investing, here is an excerpt and brief video to familiarize yourself with some history about this emerging industry:
Schrodinger’s Cat Wanted Dead And Alive
“In 1982, a physicist by the name of Richard P. Feynman, Ph.D. developed a theoretical model for quantum computing. When he published his concepts, the technology was not available to build a quantum computer, but folks did start thinking about how to do it… As it turns out, Schrödinger’s Cat is all true! You can be in more than one place at a time. Has your phone ever rung and you knew who the caller was before picking up?… Quantum computing is turning out to be a first step in the potential of realizing ‘real’ artificial intelligence (AI).” – TraderStef
Why Google and the Pentagon want “quantum computers”… One quantum computing company, D-Wave, is forging ahead. It has already won over the Pentagon’s biggest weapons builder and has now received another huge endorsement: a three-way collaboration between the US space agency Nasa, search giant Google and the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) that it will buy the second D-Wave Two computer. D-Wave Systems, a Canadian-based company, came to prominence in 2007 when it stunned the scientific community by announcing that it had built the world’s first quantum computer...The Pentagon and US intelligence community have long been the leading funders of quantum computing in the United States. The spy world, in particular, has looked to quantum computing for its use in encryption and code breaking… a ‘standard’ quantum computer uses the idea of quantum entanglement – whereby information can exist as an infinite number of ‘superpositions’ of the two states at the same time. Effectively these ‘quantum bits’ or qubits as they are known, can work in parallel rather than sequentially, allowing quantum computers to solve certain problems orders of magnitude faster than its classical counterparts.” – BBC, Nov. 2014
Schrödinger’s Cat – Sixty Symbols, May 2009
Quantum Computing: AI Is Here – Geordie Rose at IdeaCity, Aug. 2014…
Google achieved quantum supremacy when it debuted its previous generation of quantum computer, Sycamore, back in 2019. It took Sycamore 200 seconds to perform a calculation that theoretically would take the world’s then-fastest supercomputer 10,000 years to complete. A new development was unveiled two weeks ago that will significantly enhance speed and accuracy inside the plumbing of any quantum computer. Google revealed its latest chip, Willow, which can “solve a problem in five minutes” vs the fastest supercomputer and its microchip assembly taking “ten septillion years to complete.”
The number of qubits plugged into a quantum mainframe was in the single digits just over a decade ago and is currently beyond 100 qubits on a single microchip. Developments that bring an affordable Quantum PC to market for your home office is at least a decade away, but as investors begin piling into the sector it could eventually make the Magnificent Seven’s AI rally in technology stocks look like an appetizer.
Google unveils Willow quantum computing chip… “Google Quantum AI founder and lead Hartmut Neven said: ‘This mind-boggling number exceeds known timescales in physics and vastly exceeds the age of the universe.’ The new chip has 105 ‘qubits,’ which are said to be the ‘building blocks’ of quantum computers. Willow’s other achievement is its ability to ‘exponentially’ reduce errors as the number of qubits is scaled up. This addresses a key challenge in quantum error correction that researchers have been tackling for nearly three decades. Willow was produced in Google’s new fabrication facility located in Santa Barbara. Neven was quoted by Bloomberg as saying: ‘When we make that decision to pull the trigger to scale up, we want to be absolutely certain we scale up the most promising technology. Our money is on that this would be superconducting qubits. But maybe QuEra teaches us that neutral atoms have their advantages. We’ll see.” – GlobalData, Dec. 10, 2024
Quantum’s next leap: Ten septillion years beyond-classical – Google Quantum AI, Dec. 9
Always conduct a thorough due diligence of a company’s fundamentals and a technical analysis of its stock chart before risking your capital. A few of the largest tech companies to consider that invest in research and development for quantum computing include IBM ($IBM), Google ($GOOG), Microsoft ($MSFT), and Nvidia ($NVDA). Pure play smaller companies in the sector that look promising are ($QBTS), Rigetti Computing ($RGTI), and IonQ ($IONQ). There is one ETF named Defiance Quantum ($QTUM) whose equity basket consists of 71 globally-listed stocks across all market capitalizations that span artificial intelligence, cloud computing, machine learning, quantum computing, and other transformative technologies. QTUM’s basket of stocks is a good reference for building a watchlist on your trading platform.
D-Wave Quantum Inc. $QBTS Weekly Chart as of Dec. 27, 2024 Close…
One example of deep pockets building positions in the quantum sector is $QBTS’s weekly chart that shows a bullish Swiss Stair pattern developed for nearly six weeks. That accumulation occurred BEFORE a two-week rally in December after Google’s announcement on the Willow chip breakthrough. The stock is currently overbought and closed at $9.91 after printing a high of $11.41 last week. The price action needs a breather and consolidation above the 50 Exponential Moving Average (EMA) before challenging the $13.23 all-time high. The chart is neutral until the ATH is decisively left in the dust with large buy Volume.
Here are links to two additional articles related to quantum computing and AI, two recent mainstream articles about cybersecurity in a quantum world, and let’s close today with a brief commentary by Professor Michio Kaku from last year during an interview with Joe Rogan.
- AI’s Ultimate Impact on Jobs in Limbo and the Quantum Quandary – Jul. 2018 (thread)
- AI Freak Show Requires Obedience and Capital: Cellular Androids – Feb. 2024 (thread)
- ‘Q Day’ Is Coming. It’s Time to Worry About Quantum Security – WSJ, Oct. 2024
- The key to protecting critical data from quantum cyberattacks – CNA, Oct. 2024
Quantum Computing with Joe Rogan and Michio Kaku – JRE, May 2023
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TraderStef on Twitter / Website: TraderStef.com
